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HICKORY (AP) — A wrong turn in life and a stint in prison put a local barber on a path to realizing his dream of doing stand-up comedy.

By day, Al Henry cuts hair at his barbershop, H&H Barbershop, but in his spare time he shares his comedy talent with local nonprofits and churches.

Henry's comedy is not just an act he does, it's something he lives.

"I've never seen him mad, except maybe for five minutes of a football game," said his friend Shorty Wilson. "He's just a happy person."

He also shares his talent for comedy with his customers at the barbershop. Michael Shuford, a barber at the shop, said there's never a dull moment. Shuford said it gets even better when some of the "characters" that come into the shop are added to the mix.

"I want to make the world laugh," Henry said.

He's well on his way to making that happen. Henry, 43, who grew up in Maiden, has been taking his comedy act to Virginia, Georgia and around North Carolina.

Henry said if it weren't for his children and wanting to stick closer to home, he would pursue a comedy career harder. He has a son, 11-year-old Akeston Henry, a daughter, Asia Henry, 23, and a stepdaughter, Aerial Odum.

Henry missed a portion of his daughter's young life. He was sent to prison on a drug conviction when she was about 2 years old.

He got caught up with the wrong crowd, Henry explains.

"I wasn't brought up like that," Henry said. "I was just trying to fit in."

Henry knows the time he spent in prison is time he'll never get back.

"I said I would never let that happen again," he said.

He lets younger folks know that if they head down the path of drugs they'll either end up going to prison or going to the graveyard. He tells them, "Don't be a follower; be a leader."

It was while he was serving his time — six years — in prison that he started writing comedy.

"It was something I always felt I wanted to do," Henry said. He felt that if he could make grown men laugh he had a shot at making others laugh. He performed his comedy in every prison he was transferred to, including ones in North Carolina, Kentucky, Alabama, Florida and Virginia.

When he got out of prison, he started playing The Comedy Zone in Charlotte. He has done his stand-up comedy routine at the Arts Center of Catawba Valley in Hickory and Pin Station in Newton.

Henry also performs for free for nonprofits, including the Red Hat Society, and has been doing his Christian comedy show for churches for years.

He also is well known in the Hickory community for contributions by the 828 Ryderz motorcycle club, of which he's a member. For the last four years, the club has donated back-to-school materials to the children in the Ridgeview community.

Henry has been seen on BET, and the channel plans to shoot a commercial with him to promote his T-shirt with his catch phrase, "You Heard Me." He's opened for comics Martin Lawrence, Reginald Ballard (Bruh-Man), Chris Thomas (the mayor of Rap City) and Barbara Carlyle.

Henry also sets up comedy shows through his promotion business, H&H Promotions, bringing in comics from places such as Atlanta, Charlotte and Greensboro.

Henry's dream is that his T-shirt will take off and he'll be at the right place at the right time and hit it big in the comedy world. Some stores in Virginia already want his shirts to sell.